100 Theme Challenge, Asian style
by infinitytwice
Summary: The 100 theme challenge is now Asian-ified! There might be genderbending in the future probably, so I can fit some of these prompts and there will probably be other characters as well. It's just Asian-centric.
1. Theme 1: Introduction

**Theme 1: Introduction**

I was walking through a bamboo thicket, dreaming about days when I had room to breathe. So many political problems surrounded my country those days that I was always in some meeting or another.

The smell of the bamboo soothed me like I knew it would. I could feel my shoulders relax and my neck muscles grow less tense. It was such a relief to have a place to hide from daily trifles and unwind.

But today, I was not alone.

There was a small boy in my meditation spot!

He was facing away from me, but judging by his height he couldn't have been more than, say, six or seven. His hair was darker than ebony and twice as shiny, and he was wearing blue clothing that looked unfamiliar. As I approached him slowly, he seemed to hear my footsteps and he turned around, revealing a very young face (my age estimate appeared to be correct) and deep brown eyes that were filled with life, although they were expressionless.

I smiled, hoping that I wouldn't scare him off. "You must be a new country," I said. "How long have you been living here? Do you know anyone? It seems like it would be hard to live out here all alone." I tried to gain control of my mouth before I could scare him off. "I'm China!" I said with a smile, praying that he wouldn't run away. "What's your name?"

"Hello China, where the sun sets," he said quietly. He was speaking in a language I could barely understand. "I am Japan, where the sun rises."

_This kid is rude!_

I kept up my smile. "Okay, Japan!" I said. "Come on, let me show you around my country. I'll be your big brother!"

He was reluctant to respond, but eventually he said "Okay."

I offered my hand, and he took it.

I couldn't help but feel like this would either end very well, or very, very badly.

* * *

**A/N: **Yes, I'm committing suicide. I'm trying to finish the 100 theme challenge before the end of 2010. This cannot end well.

And do each of the themes have to be written in order? Like, chapter 1 is theme 1 and chapter 2 is theme 2 and so on? I don't know, and I really hope not, because I already have theme 86 written and I want to put it up ASAP because I love it.

And I am putting "Appeal to Reason" on a short break. I've been writing and writing so much, and I've gotten kind of tired of Rise Against, and I know what I want to do for the next 2 songs but I don't know how to write it. Plus I have to figure out what to do for "Audience of One," and I'm just totally lost on that because my original idea used Prussia for the THIRD time and I didn't want too much of one character.

So to the few people who actually READ "Appeal to Reason," don't expect another chapter for a few days at least. Hopefully I'll be able to find my muse soon.

And I'm still offering free oneshots, to anyone who wants one. I need to keep my summer busy so I don't go insane. Just give me the characters and a prompt (it can be as vague as "ice cream" or as specific as "Nation A takes Nation B out on a date which is then ruined by the Bad Friends Trio and then they go home and eat Ben & Jerry's ice cream because they want to"). NO SMUT/HARDCORE YAOI, please, I love reading it but I couldn't write it to save my life.


	2. Theme 2: Love

**Theme 2: Love**

He had learned long ago to keep himself guarded at all costs. Too many times he'd been injured; too many times his emotions had gotten the better of him.

Like the time when he'd realized that China's care wasn't enough and that he had to break away or never become stronger. Yao had inadvertently broken his heart, simply by not being what a growing nation needed.

Or like the time when Hong Kong was being taken away by England. He had done his best to say farewell, but his younger brother just ignored him.

And he couldn't forget about the time when his sister had scolded him over something trivial, and it had escalated into a full-blown shouting match over nothing. Later that night, Taiwan told him she hated him, and it very nearly killed him to hear that.

And then there were various other experiences with his other siblings and other nations of the world. It was just all too dangerous to keep your heart on your sleeve; no, it was best to hide it away in a safe, lock it up so no one can touch it.

It was only logical to do so.

But this man—this foreigner from a completely different continent—he had somehow found out the combination to the lock that was on Kiku's heart and opened the safe. He had opened the heavy metal door that protected it, shielded it from the outside world.

And suddenly, Kiku found himself head over heels and desperately trying to find a way out. He had been hurt too many times—it wasn't worth it—showing emotion was a sign of weakness—there was no reason why he should even know this man at all, let alone be in love with him!

But, as fate would have it, Herakles Karpusi had successfully stolen Honda Kiku's heart the second they'd met.

* * *

**A/N: **Yeah, it's short. Written in about 5 minutes, and it was lovely to be able to write something short and succinct that I actually like. Giripan FTW 3

I might even write more today and post it up; it depends on how I feel and if I can figure out what to write for the next prompt.


	3. Theme 3: Light

**Theme 3: Light**

"Yong Soo. You're tall."

"Yes I am!"

"Come in here. I need your help."

"What for?"

"Just get in here."

"Not until you tell me why."

"I need your help. The lightbulb went out."

"Well, you're gonna need a new one, right?"

"Yong Soo, just get in here and help…"

"Well, Kaoru, what's the point of me taking out the old one if I don't have a new one to put in?"

"Just get over here and take out the old lightbulb! I'll find another one later, but I can't find my way out of here right now because it's too dark!"

"Then how am I supposed to find my way _in _to change the bulb?"

"The door is closed, moron."

"And?"

"That means that when you _open_ the door, light from the hallway is going to come into this pitch-black room and light it up enough so I can see to get out and you can see to change the bulb."

"Aniki's calling me!"

"IM YONG SOO, IF YOU LEAVE THEN I WILL LIGHT YOU UP WITH A FIRECRACKER."

"Be right back, Kaoru!"

"IM YONG SOO! GET BACK HERE!"

* * *

**A/N: **Haha, I'm so mean to poor Kaoru. (Kaoru = Hong Kong; it's a name I saw someone else use, and I like it for him.) I imagine him as calm, but with a serious temper if you get him angry.

Two themes in the same day? If they're both a page long in Word, then it's possible! (And if I feel like procrastinating on my room-cleaning, I might use the next theme and write a sequel to this today~)


	4. Theme 4: Dark

**Theme 4: Dark**

I sat alone in the pitch-black room. Yong Soo had gone off to bother Yao and left me alone, with no working light. And I wasn't even able to wander around aimlessly to try and find the door myself.

It wasn't that I couldn't find my way around my own bedroom; I knew it like the back of my hand. No, it was the fact that I had been cutting open a box that had arrived for me in the mail and the knife I was using had fallen on the floor somewhere after the light went out, and I was barefoot.

So I was basically stuck sitting against my closet door, since I didn't really want a bloody foot.

_Stupid Yong Soo…he just _had _to go and bother Yao…_

I don't like the dark. It reminds me too much of nights in England spent under Arthur's rule. The city lights were too bright, and the sky was void of stars—just one big black blanket that covered the Earth.

And the dark is just like the feeling you get when you realize that the place you call "home" is thousands of miles away, and you might not ever go back: suffocating, dismal, and black.

And there are monsters in the darkness, just like the ones Arthur called faeries. They would torment me and I couldn't see them; it was like a curtain was between us, shrouding them in mystery.

Too many bad things happen where there is no light. Murders…robberies…vandalism…there's too much of a risk when the sun isn't out.

The eyes of dead men are dark. Emotionless, blank, and glassy; they haunted my dreams for the longest time after I was being fought over by Yao and Kiku. It was hell—I was being torn in two different directions, with dead or dying people everywhere I turned.

The darkness never brought me anything remotely nice, did it?

_No, _I thought, _the darkness is not good._

_

* * *

_**A/N: **Gah. Hong Kong doesn't like the dark. I'm mean to him. I promise I'll be nicer.


	5. Theme 5: Seeking Solace

**Theme 5: Seeking Solace**

Taiwan ran into her house, desperate to get away from her older brothers. They were fighting again, and she was caught in the middle of it.

Just like old times.

Flashbacks of years gone by hit the young girl and she closed her eyes, bringing forth memories that she had buried deep down in her subconscious.

She remembered the day when Japan had finally left China. She was left to pick up the pieces, and to attempt to mend relationships even though it was obvious she wished to follow Japan out of China's house. Her eldest brother was reduced to tears as she bandaged his back, both from betrayal and from the realization that she no longer desired his protection.

Then the second Sino-Japanese War started, and she was stuck in between the warring brothers yet again. Japan attacked China relentlessly, and although it killed her to admit it, she was hoping that he could help free her.

She remembered the poisonous words that had fallen from her tongue as she accepted the refugees from China.

"_I always liked Kiku more than you, Yao. At least he lets me do what I want, instead of trying to control me like you do!"_

Mei didn't realize she was crying until she felt the tears dripping off of her chin.

She was surrounded by war. She had lost all hope in having a big, happy family with her brothers and sisters. There was no point in even trying any more.

Reality was too harsh to be faced, but she couldn't even hide away in reminiscence because the memories that surfaced were just as bad.

Was there no place she could hide from the pain?

* * *

**A/N: **The Sino-Japanese wars. Serious stuff. I looked at Wikipedia to make sure that Taiwan was actually involved, and what I could understand it seemed like it was to an extent. Thus, from Taiwan's POV.


	6. Theme 6: Break Away

**Theme 6: Break Away**

"Get off me, Mei!" Vietnam squealed, attempting to loosen her sister's arms around her waist.

"No," Taiwan murmured into Vietnam's back. "You need a hug."

"No I don't!"

Taiwan let go of Vietnam and spun her around, holding her at arm's length. "Linh," she said seriously. "You just got out of a war with America. You're all beat up and half-dead and I didn't know if you'd survive. Let me hug you."

Vietnam seemed to consider this for a moment, then came up with a counterargument. "Well, if I look half-dead and beat up to you, then you should let me go recover."

"Not until you've spoken to the rest of the family."

_Why must my sister be so difficult?_ Vietnam thought. "Let me bathe first, Mei, or at least wash my face."

Now it was Taiwan's turn to mull things over internally. "Deal," she said. "On one condition."

"Of course," Vietnam muttered bitterly. Taiwan didn't hear her.

"Promise me that you'll be nice to Im Yong Soo," she pleaded. "I know you two don't get along, but please, Linh, just this once—"

"No way! I'm going to go wash, and I won't be nice towards that brat."

"Well, you can ignore him, just make sure you say 'hello' before you do."

Vietnam raised an eyebrow. "Fine," she agreed grudgingly.

Taiwan looked her in the eye and before Vietnam knew it, she was in another bone-crushing hug. "He's quite honestly been worried about you, you know," she said.

Vietnam attempted to break away from her sister, but to no avail. "Mei!"

"Mm?"

"How am I supposed to wash up when you're clinging on to me and crushing my lungs?"

"I suppose that _is_ a problem."

Vietnam wriggled again, but she just couldn't escape her older sister's iron grip. "So are you going to let me go or not?" she asked furiously.

"Not right now."

"MEI!"

* * *

**A/N: **First thing I thought of when I read "break away" was something about Japan separating from China, but the last one was too depressing for me to want to write about that, so I wrote about Vietnam failing to break away from Taiwan's hugs. And I gave Vietnam the name Linh because my friend is Vietnamese and that's her name, so I figured I'd go ahead and use a name I already had. Taiwan is Mei, by the way.


	7. Theme 7: Heaven and HK's birthday

**Theme 7: Heaven**

I was overwhelmed by the amount of birthday cards people sent in. There was one with something written in rather bad Chinese, but from what I could make out it seemed to be from my other stepbrother of sorts (whose birthday was also today). America's was naturally the largest, with something written in English on the inside. I doubted he remembered that not everyone in the world spoke English.

Come to think of it, I couldn't read most of these, although Yao and Kiku had helped translate the ones that were in English. I could tell they'd left some (probably foul) words out of England's card and Yao refused to even look at what France sent me. I wasn't too eager to find out anyway.

"This one is from the Italies, although I'm fairly sure that Veneziano-kun designed it; Romano-san wouldn't do something like this."

"Russia sent you one, aru! Although…it's written in Russian…I'll ask him what he wrote at the next meeting, aru."

"Ah! This one is from Germany and Prussia! Germany says 'happy birthday, Hong Kong,' I believe. It's hard to tell, because Prussia wrote all over the entire inside of the card…"

"Kaoru? What's all this?" Mei's voice startled me.

"Birthday cards," I answered.

Not two seconds later I was tackled by someone who was now shouting something in my ear that sounded like "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DA ZE!"

"YONG SOO!" Mei yelled.

"Yong Soo, get off of your brother, aru!"

I simply flipped him over my shoulder and flat onto his back on the floor.

"No fair, Kaoru!"

"You tackled me first. How is that not fair?"

"He's got a point, aru."

"Aniki, don't take his side!"

The quarrel only ended when Linh came out of her bedroom threatening to starve us all if we didn't stop fighting. That successfully got Yong Soo and Yao's attention.

Dinner wasn't any different, really. Yong Soo kept trying to grope Yao and Kiku; Mei and Linh sat back and laughed; and I tried to eat my bánh bột chiên as fast as possible. With all the noise and chaos, a stranger would think we hated each other, but it was just a normal occurrence in the house, and I was used to it.

A small smile crept on my face as Mei tried to pry Yong Soo off of Kiku. Yes, we were a completely dysfunctional family, but we were still a family. I wouldn't trade them for anyone else in the world.

* * *

**A/N:** Kaoru = Hong Kong, and Linh = Vietnam, if you don't remember from the previous stories.

I know it might not seem like it has anything to do with the prompt, but the ending was supposed to tie it in. I can see the connection, but that's probably because I wrote it.

So in my haste to write a Canada birthday fic, I forgot all about poor Hong Kong! D: I was looking for inspiration for both a birthday fic for him and for theme 7, and poof! The idea to use the theme for his birthday was born!

...yeah.

And I realize that bánh bột chiên is Vietnamese food. I imagine that, if they were to live in the same house, they'd take turns doing the cooking, meaning they'd get some of each other's dishes once in a while. Wikipedia describes it as "A Chinese influenced pastry that exists in many versions all over Asia; the Vietnamese version features a special tangy soy sauce on the side, rice flour cubes with fried eggs and some vegetables."


	8. Theme 8: Innocence

**Theme 8: Innocence**

Jaidee smiled at the sight of his younger sister napping on the couch. Linh was always tense and serious; it was just her nature, her personality. At any given moment, she would be frowning slightly or appearing deep in thought.

When she was sleeping, however, it was a completely different story. All of the stress and tension evident in her face and body seemed to melt away until she looked like a completely different person. Linh rarely let her guard down while conscious, but in slumber, she looked as carefree as a child.

Jai had seen his sister nearly every day of his life. He'd seen her happy, sad, pained, frightened, surprised, and angry. Any emotion you could think of, he'd seen on her face. The phrase "I know it like the back of my hand" was actually quite accurate in his case; he really did know Linh's face like the back of his hand.

But the one expression he didn't see often was this look of content that adorned her facial features now.

After all the wars she'd been through, and after all the hell she'd gone through over the years, Jai had thought for a while that his little sister didn't know how to smile anymore. She was so serious, so eager to prove herself to the ones who doubted her. Linh had always been down-to-earth, though; in their childhood, she was always the good child, the one who never did anything bad. Catching her smiling or laughing wasn't a frequent sight even back then.

Jai sighed, childhood memories beginning to work their way to the forefront of his brain. He didn't realize he was staring at Linh until she woke up and asked him sleepily, "What are you staring at?"

He jumped. "Oh, uh, it's nothing," he said hastily. "You just looked so comfortable, but I was wondering…doesn't sleeping on the couch hurt your back or anything?"

Linh shook her head slowly. "No, not really…" she mumbled. "I mean, I'm tired, so…"

Her voice trailed off as her eyelids lowered again. Her breathing deepened and evened out, and within seconds she was back in dreamland.

_She looks so innocent,_ Jai thought. _If only she were really as carefree as she looks…_

_

* * *

_**A/N: **So yeah. This is it.

Sorry for lack of updates, but I've been seriously lacking inspiration lately, as you can tell from my Rise Against fic... *nudges it* I don't know what to do with that one.

Anyway, I'll try to update as much as I can what with driver's ed and PowerPoints and basically moving in with my friend for the weekend.


	9. Theme 9: Drive

**Theme 9: Drive**

Never before had he felt this desire, this need, for retribution.

His mind flashed back to thousands of years ago, back before any of the nations surrounding him were even born.

Back to the small house in the bamboo thicket, with the pond and the pandas and the perfect porch for looking at the moon.

Back to the night when everything had come crashing down upon him in a sleek, swift slash of gleaming silver metal.

Back to the hazy memory of the silhouette of the then-young man's body against the moonlight, his former brother's blood dripping from his katana, not so much as a second glance back to the bleeding man on the floor.

His mind was reeling, going even further and further backwards into the years he spent with the budding nation. Days spent in awe over his prodigy, days spent in the bamboo thicket looking for interesting things, days spent teaching him how to write, how to read, how to communicate.

His fists and jaw clenched. The anger that rose up in him was not necessarily uncalled for, but it was unwelcome all the same. He fought it down, trying to keep a cool head.

So many things were happening to his old body. Political issues were giving him a constant migraine; civil war was tearing his consciousness in two, making him throw up and fall to the floor whenever a battle was won or lost. The war he was currently in with Japan only made things worse.

It was greatly taxing. He was losing his determination, his fighting spirit. There was a constant drain on his body and mind, a sickness he couldn't get rid of with medicine.

When December 1941 rolled around and he found new allies, he was thoroughly grateful. Someone to share the burden with, while trying to mend his country.

Suddenly, the desire to eliminate one of his many problems was no longer the driving factor behind his attacks on Japan. It was his thirst for blood, the need to see the ex-brother who had touched his heart in the same position that he himself was in thousands of years ago.

China wanted revenge.

And he was going to get it.

* * *

**A/N:** fffffffff hi there, people! 8D I'm not dead, I promise.

well, if you're wondering where the new chapter for the Rise Against fic is, I don't have it. It'll be a while before that's up.

On the upside, I'm at the beach for another 12 days or so, so I'll have plenty of time to attempt to write it. I haven't written in forever, though, so I did the 10-song challenge to try and get used to it again. I'll be updating this more frequently as well, for the same purpose.

Hopefully I'll hit theme 15 by the end of this week. Fingers crossed!

...regarding this chapter, it took me forever to figure out what I should do for it. It's China about Japan, and the rest is pretty self-explanatory.


	10. Theme 10: Breathe Again

**Theme 10: Breathe Again**

_Inhale._

_Exhale._

_Inhale._

_Exhale._

To Japan, even the simplest of tasks were now impossible. Blinking hurt. Moving hurt. Any sort of facial expression hurt.

The worst pain came when he breathed. _Breathe in_—a sharp, stabbing pain. _Breathe out_—a slightly duller but even worse pain that lasted until his next inhale.

He knew he had two horrible burns on his upper chest somewhere, from the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

He knew that the heartache he had was not only from the bombs, but also from the pain of his people.

He knew that if he didn't surrender soon, America would keep attacking him.

He knew all this, but he didn't want to.

Or rather, he didn't care.

All he was focused on was trying to keep breathing. _Inhale, exhale,_ he told himself. _Ignore the pain. Stay alive for the sake of your people._

_But nearly everyone is dead or dying, no?_

He mentally reprimanded himself, but that little part of him remained. _If a nation's people die, the nation dies,_ he thought.

_What if all of my people die?_

Various scenarios ran through his mind's eye, and for a moment he panicked.

Then he refocused on reminding himself: _Breathe in, breathe out. Ignore the pain. Inhale, exhale._

_When will I be able to breathe again?

* * *

_**A/N:** I'm pretty sure I'm the only person alive who writes major angst and stuff like this while on vacation at the beach.

Oh well.

Japan after the atomic bombings. Yeah. I don't know why the burns from the bombs are on his chest, it just seems like a good place for them to be for some reason.


End file.
